Maimed by the Alpha: Death is the Stalker, #1

By L.B. Barrows

A spine-tingling, horror-chilling, cliffhanging rollercoaster.  You'll want to keep the lights on until morning.

After graduation Paige settled into a comfortable routine--afternoons at her waitressing job and evenings sneaking out to see her boyfriend Jake.  But all that changed when Todd started sniffing around.  Ever since she rejected him at prom, he's made a nuisance of himself, but lately he's crossed the line, moving from nuisance to stalker.

Paige thinks he's just a horny teenager.  Will she learn the truth before it's too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: L.B. Barrows
• Release date: Dec 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781502236630

Book preview

Chapter 1

Paige Carter shivered and took another deep breath while the silver light of the full moon cast elongated shadows across the forest path.  She was going to kill Jake when she finally reached the cabin—after she kissed him thoroughly.

Meet me at Hunter's Cabin.  Midnight. 

The note was written in gorgeous calligraphy.  Jake had a flare for romance.  He must have asked one of his friends with artistic talent to help out.

Her heart pounded when a howl echoed in the air.  Hearing rustling in the trees, she walked faster.  Hunter's cabin was an old abandoned house at the edge of her parent's property. The trees in that area hadn't been cleared and grew tall and twisty. Folks said it was haunted. 

Once when she and Jake went for a walk in the fields, they spent hour after hour kissing and romping through dusty rooms.  She complained about the cobwebs, but when Jake kissed the smudge on her cheek and declared the house their love nest, she relented.

Talk about love at first site. Not Paige...the cabin. Jake loved it. He convinced her to help him fix it up.  And here she was, creeping through moonlit trees to meet him. Her heart pounded.  In excitement?  Fear?  It was hard to say because the emotions all crashed and coursed at once as she made her way along the dark path.

A snapping sound in the distance behind her gave her a sense of dread.  With a gasp, she turned back once to see what was following her.  The woods were dark, but she thought she detected movement.

With a startled scream, she stepped back when yellow eyes peered out from the undergrowth beyond the path. She heard a low growl and gasped.

Paige fled, following the flagstones that some industrious person had set so long ago.  She fell once, scraping her knees and glanced over her shoulder. No yellow eyes.  That didn't mean she was alone.

She felt a presence.  Some creature in the shadows. Paige knew one thing.  She wasn't alone in those woods.  Something was following her.

Her footsteps echoed in the darkness as she wheezed for breath.  Exercising was not her thing.  But Paige didn't stop.  Ahead she saw the light on the porch of the cabin.  Not a lamp, nor a light bulb.  It was a single candle.  A signal that Jake was there.

Her whole body relaxed.  She was safe.  She was here.

A relieved grin on her face, she stopped running, and even laughed at herself for being silly.

A shadow separated from the trees and jumped right in front of her, roaring challenge.

Paige screamed and scrambled back.

The roar turned to laughter.

Jake!  Angry and giddy with relief, Paige thumped Jake playfully on the shoulder and then snuggled in for a long hug. You jerk!

My Sweet, you've been away too long. Jake's hands slipped into Paige's back pockets as he crushed her to him. His mouth playfully teased hers and she felt all of the fear of the past fifteen minutes dissolve.

Paige wrapped her body around Jake's.  I'm going to punish you severely.

They laughed as they stumbled through the front door, Paige half-chasing, half-pushing Jake while he tugged her.  With a growl, he kicked the door closed and grabbed her.  Paige squealed as he carried her into the bedroom where fifty candles, wicks flickering with flame greeted the couple.

It's magical, Paige breathed.

After two months of scrubbing and polishing, putting up drapes and repairing breakages, the love nest was something to be proud of. "I can't let you go Paige Carter.